A migrant center in San Diego closed on Thursday after exhausting its funds to aid the substantial number of migrants crossing illegally into the county. The center, which reportedly assisted up to 800 migrants per day, had its resources strained by a significant surge in arrivals over recent weeks. CEO of the center, Kathie Lembo, stated that the facility’s finite resources were stretched to the limit.
The closure has ignited fears in nearby El Cajon, according to Mayor Bill Wells, who voiced his concerns on Fox News. “Over the past few months, we’ve seen 100,000 migrants come across the San Diego border,” Wells said. “A lot of those have been absorbed by this county shelter that used taxpayer money. They asked for $3 million, and they spent over $6 million, and now they say they’re out of money. So we’re going to see migrants congregating in our streets,” he continued. “I think it’s going to become a pretty serious problem pretty quickly.”
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data indicates that nearly 140,000 illegal immigrants have entered the San Diego area since the commencement of Fiscal Year 2024 on October 1. Wells further expressed apprehensions over an increasing number of daily drop-offs, potentially rising from 300 to 1,000 after the center’s closure. He mentioned the possible recourse of housing migrants in hotels despite the negative impacts on neighborhoods and security infrastructure.
Cities across the country are increasingly suffering significant strains on resources as a result of the unprecedented influx of migrants due to the border crisis.
